A History of Sanskrit Literature c7.s1.9

c7.s1.9

In morphology there was elimination of double forms; *ā* as a variant for *ena* in the instrumental singular of *a* stems disappeared, *a* and *ā* yielded to *au* in the dual, *āsas* to *ās*, *ā* to *āni*, *ebhis* to *ais*, *ām* to *ānām* in the plural; *ni* alone is permissible in the locative singular of *an* stems; the effective distinction of root and derivative stems in *ī* disappears; the intrusion of weak forms into the place of strong and vice versa is banished; the irregular *vas* of the vocative of *vant* stems is abandoned, and by eliminating the nominative *yuvam* and ablative *yuvat* the pronominal declension is harmonized with the simplicity of the three forms of the nominal. Similarly, in verbal forms the variant *masi* in the first plural active is laid aside, the *e* of the third singular middle yields to *te*, *dhva* in the second plural to *dhvam*, and forms in *r* in the third plural are confined to the perfect and the root *çī*; in the imperative *dhvāt* is dropped, and *dhi* is no longer permitted to rival *hi* in the second person. Far more important is the laying aside of the subjunctive, whose functions were felt to be adequately performed by the optative, save in so far as a complete set of forms was made up for the imperative by utilizing the first persons. Even in the optative the wealth of forms is seriously diminished, only the present and a specialized precative being allowed. The rich variety of infinitives is steadily lessened; the final result allows only that in *tum*, while of the gerunds that in *tvā* supersedes *tvī* and *tvāya*. Against these losses can be set little more than the development of two forms of periphrasis, the future middle in *tāhe*, and the perfect¹ composed of a nominal accusative form with the auxiliaries *kṛ*, *bhū*, or *ās*, the extended use of gerundives in *tavya* and *anīya*, the creation of a perfect active participle in *tavant*, the invention of a new third singular aorist passive as in *adāyiṣi*, and the development of tertiary verbal forms.